Hunters: Wounds That Don't Heal
by BlazeorFade
Summary: First in the extended versions of The Five Ways AU's. After they meet at Ellen's, Sam, Dean and Jack run into some trouble. Cat fights, death threats and snark ensues.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Wounds that Don't Heal**

**Author: BlazeorFade**

**Rating: T**

**Summary: First in the long versions of the Hunters: Five Ways AU's. **

**Disclaimer: I wish.**

* * *

Jack sat down at the bar and sipped cautiously from the beer placed in front of her, but not before sniffing at it first. Can't be too careful.

"You said you were looking for a demon." Dean made it a statement instead of a question.

"Yup." Jack answered shortly.

"Mind telling us why?" He asked licking his lips and picking at the label on his beer bottle to keep from strangling this infuriating woman.

"I think you know why." Jack told him looking at the worn bar top.

"What'd you say your name was?" Ash asked typing rapidly into his computer.

"Jack Fontenot." Jack answered.

"Any hits yet Ash?" Sam asked standing by Ash while he confirmed Jack's identity.

"Hold up." Ash said/

_"_Got it." Ash said triumphantly. His smile faded as he read the various news clippings and records that catalogued the tragedy of Jack's life.

She hated that. It was like having her pain slashed before strangers. But it had to be done.

"Dude," Ash turned to her after reading the Fontenot body count. "That sucks."

"It is what it is." Jack answered taking another pull from her drink. She wanted something stronger.

"Dean come here." Sam said staring fixedly at the pages in front of him. Dean looked at Jack and got up to read the information.

The first was a newspaper article about the tragic fire that claimed the lives of Thomas and Annabelle Fontenot. The only survivors were the husbands brother Christopher Fontenot and the couple's six month old daughter Jacqueline, rescued by said uncle. The fire started in the baby's nursery.

The next page was a police report of the unsolved murder of Christopher Fontenot three years ago. And then an old Amber Alert for Jack. And a small obit for her grandmother. She was the last.

Dean read the arson report from the night her parents died. The details were so shockingly similar to the one on their old house. Sam assumptions, same paper thin explanation that anyone who dug deep enough would question.

"Her age doesn't match the others." Dean pointed out low enough so he was only talking to Sam.

"Not all of it had to happen the same year." Sam reasoned.

"Do you think she knows she might have an ability?" Dean asked.

"Maybe, I don't know." Sam answered.

"How did you find out about the demon?" Sam asked Jack sitting down on the stool next to her. He was very aware of their audience and the fact that Dean would rather be doing this alone.

"You mind telling me what the hell is going on?" Ellen asked, frustrated at the half understood conversation going on in front of her.

"Its family business." Dean told her dismissively.

"Last I checked your dad didn't have a daughter so its not just family boy." Ellen said hands on her hips.

When the three people continued to stare at her in silence she leaned in close.

"If y'all think you're going to get your information and then leave us all in the dark, you're dead wrong. This is big and its bad and its coming or else your father wouldn't have dropped off the radar the way he did before he passed." Ellen said firmly, her patience wearing thinner by the second.

"She's right. It is coming." Jack said tugging on an end of her hair.

"And we aren't the only ones involved."Sam said pointedly to Dean.

"Fuck." Dean muttered sitting down again, running his hands through his hair.

"You know that right?" Sam asked Jack. "That this thing has killed dozens of families maybe more. Always on the kids six month birthday."

"Didn't know that." Jack replied. "All I know is a demon killed my parents and it wants me. And that a man named Winchester was hunting that same demon down."

"How'd you know about our dad?" Sam asked her.

"Word on the street." Jack said.

Ellen cleared her throat.

"What's this demon want with you guys?" She demanded.

"We don't know." Dean answered. "It goes after people like Sam and so far they all have…"

"An ability, a psychic ability." Sam picked up where he left off. He looked questioningly at Jack and she nodded.

"Are they dangerous?" Ellen asked him.

"Some are." Sam told her.

"What can you do?" He asked.

"No go." Jack said shaking her head.

"What? Why?" Sam asked.

"Because even if we have this in common, I'm still alone in this." Jack told him. She was fully prepared for that. To be the outcast even among freaks.

"None of us has to be alone in this." Sam said softly.

"You don't know what I can do." Jack said.

"Are you dangerous?" Ellen asked her.

"Yes." Jack answered truthfully.

Sam saw an instantaneous look of loneliness and sadness as powerful as it was brief and felt a stab of pity for the girl.

"Trust me." Sam implored. "Trust us."

"Walk can you do?" Jack asked hotly turning the question on him.

"He has visions." Dean spoke up from behind Sam.

"That sucks." Jack said sympathetically.

"That's so cool." Jo saw with just a little bit of awe, showing t hat she really didn't know much about psychic abilities.

"You got a thing or three to learn, kid." Jack said to Jo with a condescending smirk.

"Jo, go get that case of beer from the back." Ellen said.

"I already did." Jo said pointing to said case on the floor by her mother's feet.

"Go get another one. Now." Ellen ordered giving to room for arguments. Jo huffed and stomped into the back room, out of ear shot.

"Cute kid. They grow up so fast." Jack said.

"Watch your mouth when you're talking about my daughter." Ellen warned.

"If you're so dangerous how do we know we can trust you?" Dean asked her.

"Don't I look trust worthy to you?" Jack asked smiling wide.

"You have the least trust worthy smile of anyone I've ever met." Dean replied dryly.

"I think that honor goes to you actually, Dean." Sam said.

"Are you going to tell us what you can do or not? Cause Ash aint gonna help you if not." Ellen interrupted.

"Isn't that up to Ash?" Jack challenged.

"No." Ellen replied.

"Alright, alright." Jack took a deep breath.

"I can eat a 42 ounce steak in under half an hour." Jack deadpanned. Ash's snort quickly turned into a cough at the dirty look Ellen sent his way. Dean's lips quirked up in a smile.

"Why don't you want us to know what you can do?" Sam asked her seriously. He looked frustrated and hurt.

"You don't want to know. It'll only make things harder." Jack told him feeling awkward.

"How the hell can things be worse?! My dad's dead, a demon is hunting me, and-" Sam cut off mid-rant.

Jack looked down at her hands. Chris told her to never tell people what she could do unless she could help it. Too much of a stigma. Why'd the damn man have to look so defeated though?

"It never stops sucking does i?" She said mostly to herself. She laughed mirthlessly. "Especially when-"

She cupped her hands together to contain the flame she called like air to her lungs. Sam stumbled backwards and suddenly no one was within the five foot radius around her. Alone, as usual, she thought blowing the fire out.

"Told ya so." Jack said smirking.

* * *

Jack stayed in one the rooms at the Road House and Sam and Dean stayed in the other. The brother's had kept a careful distance from her the rest of the night till she retreated to the room. Almost everyone kept their distance from her after that display of power. She would have left but Ash was busy compiling info for her. She was almost tempted take up his offer for a few comfort hits from his bong in his room but she needed to keep her head clear.

Jack was so bone tired that after laying down her own protection sigils(like hell she was going to make do with the ones already in the room. This wasn't the minor leagues), she fell down on the bed and fell asleep, dreaming nightmares her worst enemy wouldn't touch. And that was saying a lot.

* * *

"Why are we still here? The car is still waiting at Bobby's." Dean s aid angrily flopping down on the bed.

"Dean, we just found another one of the demon's victims. We can't just leave." Sam said obviously.

"Why the hell not? We can't do anything. We don't know much than what we told her in the bar. And besides, that power creeps me the hell out." Dean said honestly. They'd spent most of the rest of the afternoon in a corner telling Jack what little they knew about the demon.

"Me too." Sam admitted reluctantly. It really wasn't fair but he was afraid just thinking about it.

"That kind of power in the hands of the wrong person will be a fucking disaster." Dean mumbled.

"She's not bad." Sam said.

"How do we know?" Dean asked.

"Because…I just know." Sam said annoyed.

"Okay, then that kind of power in the hands of a kid is a fucking disaster." Dean amended looking over at Sam.

"I think that 'kid' has more control than I do." Sam snorted.

"I want to finish fixing my car, Sam." Dean said sitting up after a few seconds.

"Then why don't you go back to Bobby's and I'll meet you there." Sam exploded.

"Like hell I am." Dean muttered and settled back down against the mattress while Sam paced the room.

**TBC…….**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.**

Jack woke feeling disoriented, not knowing for a full thirty seconds where she was. She groaned remembering that she was in Huntersville and that as usual she'd managed to piss people off just by existing. Jack rolled out of bed, pushing her knotted hair out of her eyes so she could wander into the small bathroom to the back of her room.

She took a quick shower pulling on some clothes that seemed to only have two day old bloodstains instead of the usual four and finger combed her short hair till it didn't obscure her vision too much. All done in an effort to prolong her time alone till she had to go make small talk with the people at The Road House.

She didn't want to talk to others, she wanted to speak to Sam and Dean alone. About what was happening and what their involvement in it was. She did not want to spend another afternoon of fill in the blanks for the outsiders.

Sure enough the first thing that happened when Jack walked through the doors into the bar, was Jo waylaying her on her way to a stool. The girl kept a careful distance but she was right there as soon as Jack turned around and that annoyed the ever living shit out of Jack.

"I need coffee." Jack said to the older girl.

"I'm not a waitress." Jo said taken aback.

"Could've fooled me." Jack muttered hoping to annoy the girl into leaving her alone.

"You hunt alone?" Jo asked disregarding her last comment. Ellen, who'd been standing behind the counter popping in a till, stiffened.

"Why do you wanna know?" Jack demanded.

"I'm a hunter," Jo said, then coughed "Or I will be one day."

Jack closed her eyes and counted to ten.

"And you want me to tell your mom that hunting all on my own is the bestest thing ever." Jack stated.

"I'm not naïve I know hunting is dangerous." Jo scowled at her.

"Then do yourself a favor and stay home." Jack said taking the offered cup of coffee Ellen set in front of her.

"If you don't like it why do you do it?" Dean asked walking from the back. His eyes bored into Jack's head and she met his stare head on.

"My other job was worse." Jack said quietly.

"There are worse jobs?" Sam asked shuffling into the room.

"Meter Maid, it was grueling." Jack said with a faux grave look.

Ellen was sending a significant look in Jo's direction that Jack caught and she could tell Dean caught it too.

Jack shook her head. Kid needed to get her shit straight, unfortunately Jack wasn't going to be the one to straighten Jo out. Not her job. Girl wanted romanticize this gig, fine, her funeral. It pissed her the fuck off though. Jo had an alright mix going, she wasn't completely oblivious to what was out there in the shadows, but she wasn't a hunted thing either. She didn't have to pick up and run every time something thought she tasted like sweet agony.

'Oh well' Jack thought taking a deep gulp of her coffee.

She wasn't about to complain about her life, Jack had it good too as far as she was concerned.

"What are you going to do?" Sam asked taking the seat next to Jack.

"Don't know yet, hoping for some answers here but I guess you guys don't know much more than I do." Jack shrugged. "I'll figure something out."

Dean watched Jack sip at her coffee, tried to read the careful blank expression as she talked about her next move, or lack of one. She was sharp eyed, used to disappointment, he'd guess. He thought about his father's words. He thought about Sam and all the children like him. This was one of them. Would others come seeking answers from them. Answers Dean didn't have for Sam, let alone a group of scared kids. Although, he thought looking at Jack's lazy smirk, this kid seemed anything but scared.

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"You enjoying the view?" She asked, eyes dancing with a challenge.

"Jailbait." He said smirking.

"Barely legal." She corrected.

"Dean." Sam said.

"How's someone like you get involved with the big bad, aside from the whole fire starter thing." Dean asked, overlapping Sam.

"Raised on it kid, I was born and bred a freak." Jack said with a wicked smile.

"Dean!"

"What Sammy?" Dean snapped turning in time see the look of pain on Sam's face that preceded a premonition.

"Dean-" Sam ground his teeth and clutched his forehead as a vision bombarded his brain.

He fell to the ground and would have smacked his head against the stool if not for Jack kick it out of the way just in time. Dean caught hold of his brother and helped him down to the ground.

Blurred images, scattered like a video out of focus in Sam's vision. He saw Jack glaring menacingly at someone obscured by shadows.

"Fuck you." She snarled, her voice thick an choked with emotion. She looked like she'd been in bad fight but was standing tall.

She started to walk forward. Less than twenty steps later a near silent pop rang out and she fell to the ground. A howl of rage tore through the area as Sam watched her bleed out of onto the dusty ground in front of the Road House. A single bullet wound to the head. Dead before she hit the ground.

* * *

Sam was jerked back to the present, panting, trying to get air into his constricted lungs. He shook hard. He felt the dark, dingy feeling of the vision cling to him even after it was over and he could see clearly again.

Jack hopped behind the counter and grabbed a clean towel. She turned on the small sink, she dampened the cloth and brought it back around to where Sam and Dean were.

"Pain killers." Jack said to Ellen.

"Sam, you okay man?" Dean asked bracing his hands on Sam's shoulders, supporting him without making him seem weak in front of strangers. Jack knelt down next to Dean and offered the damp cloth to him.

"Over his eyes, it'll help." She said. Dean took it with a nod of thanks and pressed it to Sam's eyes and forehead with one hand. He was surprised when Jack put a hand against Sam's back to help support him much the same way Dean had.

"Water." Sam whimpered. His skin was pale and sweat from the short episode coated his face.

"Sure man." Dean said in a gruffly soothing voice. He gestured at Jo to bring him something, her mother pressed two Aspirin into her hand as she brought him a glass of water. Dean pressed the glass to Sam's lips and he drank greedily, stopping only when Dean pulled it away.

"Take the medicine Sam." Jack said rubbing a slow circle on Sam's back.

Sam nodded and let Dean put the pills in his mouth before he gave his little brother more water.

"What was that?" Jo asked. Dean spared her an irritated glance before dismissing her question. Jack looked up at the girl, giving her a sardonic sneer.

"That's his "cool" ability." Jack told her. "Haven't you ever seen a psychic vision before, Cherry?"

Jo looked away from the three people on the floor and stomped out of the room. Ellen gave Jack a withering glare that she ignored and followed her daughter. Dean couldn't help feeling a little relived that the mother daughter duo were gone.

"You okay to stand up now Sammy?" Dean asked studying his brothering for any lingering signs of pain.

"Yeah." Sam said and he let Dean help him to his feet, replacing Dean's hand holding the cloth to Sam's forehead. Jack helped them to a chair.

"Who's after you?" Sam asked after a few minutes, his eyes fixing on Jack.

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked quizzically. That's was a dumb question; the answer was 'everyone'.

"Somebody is after you and they're going to try to kill you here." Sam told her.

"Must be Thursday then." Jack quipped. Another fight, just what she needed, literally.

"What exactly did you see?" Dean asked his brother.

"Her, walking towards someone in front of the Road House. It was night out and I couldn't see who it was. She looked really beaten up and we were just standing there watching her go. Then she was dead, shot through the head." Sam explained.

"Seems like a decent way to go out." Jack joked.

"This isn't funny, someone's going to hurt you, Jack." Sam said.

"What's new? Did I say anything to the mystery guest?" Jack asked.

"You told him 'fuck you'." Sam said, his lips twitching in a smile.

"Sounds like me alright." Jack said. "Did you see what the ass kicker of me looked like?"

"No." Sam said regrettably.

"What was it?" Dean asked eagerly. Hell, if he couldn't get back to Bobby's to fix his baby than a fight would tide him over just fine.

"Not sure. Like I said, I didn't see who it was." Sam answered taking the wet cloth from his head and letting it plop on the table. He could see the wheels turning in Dean's head already.

"I guess we're on bodyguard duty." Dean said.

"My ass you're on bodyguard duty. I don't need protection. Don't think I've told this yet but I'm a badass." Jack said with a cocky smirk. "I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

"Then why do you get caught up in the vision?" Dean asked with a spark of amusement that had been missing from him as of late. Sam wasn't sure whether to be excited or concerned at the look on Dean's face.

"Maybe you boys slowed me down." Jack retorted smoothly placing her hands on her hips, standing at her full height in front of Dean.

"Or maybe you just couldn't keep up." Dean replied taking a step forward too.

"Or maybe while we should have been taking precautions you guys were bull shitting around." Sam said smugly.

"Kill joy." Jack accused with a twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah, he does that a lot." Dean said.

**TBC……….**

**AN: Finally I got up another chapter. Tell me what you think. I'm trying to differ their characters just a tad in the AU's, cause Dean's a lot darker this season and Jack would be a little grimmer from more time alone in this one. **

**AN2: Re-worked this chapter, Sam's vision and some of the dialogue after to fit better. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Jack is mine the rest are someone else's. This makes me sad.**

Sam watched Ash click away his computer, the genius's brow furrowed in concentration while he worked, barely glancing away from the screen except to take a drink from his PBR.

"Anything?" Sam asked impatiently.

"Nope, demon's still hittin the snooze button." Ash said shaking his head.

"I got more enemies than just that Demon." Jack drawled taking a hit from her whiskey glass. "Any one of them would love to see me very dead."

"Yeah, but that's the only enemy we know that we have in common." Sam pointed out. "And me and Dean were in the vision too."

"Maybe its just a wrong place wrong time deal with you two and that's why you were there." Jack reasoned.

"I don't think so." Sam said sympathetically. He wondered what the girl was thinking at the moment, she seemed so calm, so closed off about someone seeing a vision of her death. Sam wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Well there ain't nothing on the grid." Ash said finishing off his beer.

"S'cool. I can find m way out of this." Jack said shrugging like it was nothing. Like it was all cool.

"Cause people see visions of you dying all the time?" Dean asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"A couple have. Beat those odds too." Jack said in annoyance. "Don't know what kind of girl you're used to, but I'm no damsel in distress."

"Sorta getting that." Dean smirked.

"Good, wouldn't want to have to show you how helpless I'm not." Jack said leaning back on her elbows against the bar.

"Um, we should get back to finding out what's going on here." Sam intervened. Picking a fight with Dean, even in jest wasn't a good idea at the moment. In fact it was a disastrous idea, Dean was a bomb just waiting to go off. He could see that familiar smirk start on Dean's face. He was itching fro a fight, any fight.

Ellen, Jo and Ash watched the back and forth with weary eyes, like they sensed that this could end in a blow up too.

"Fun as that sounds, the thrill is gone. Thinking 'bout hitting the road." Jack said swallowing what was left of her drink.

"And if you die?" Dean asked.

"Then my face will be so red, won't it." Jack snarked. "Why should you guys care anyway?"

"Well if you're being an idiot someone has to call you on it." Sam said.

"I'm not going to hide in a corner. Not the way I do things." Jack said. She slid off her seat and started walking to the door, anger emanating off her every step when the phone behind the bar rang.

"Road House." Jo answered in a bored voice. The blonde girl stiffened.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked.

"Its for you Jack." Jo said holding the phone out to Jack, who had one hand on the door, ready to leave.

Jack raised an eyebrow and ran through the list of people who knew she was there. It wasn't long, aside from Joseph, who'd given her the name of the place, and the people currently in the room, no one should have known she was there. Still frowning Jack walked back to the bar and took the phone from Jo.

"Who is this?" She asked harshly.

"Manners, Jacqueline." A man's voice smoothly chastised on the other end of the line.

"Okay, who the hell is this, bitch?" Jack said sweetly.

A dark laugh that gave her chills sounded through the phone. "I'd be very nice if I w ere you, fire starter. Or I won't be in such a bargaining mood."

"I don't negotiate with terrorists." Jack said. Her hackles rose. Something was very wrong and she was confident whoever was on the other hand wasn't human. Or at least worked for someone that wasn't human.

"Say hello." The man said away from the phone to someone with him. Jack heard the sounds of a struggle and a the hard thwack of a fist against someone's skin.

"J-Jack…?" A high, broken voice came over the line.

Jack's blood ran cold and everything around her faded and narrowed down to the young boy on the other end of the line.

"Jack are you there…?" He asked pain evident in his voice.

Dean saw all the blood go out of Jack's face, her eyes going vacant. He got up and grabbed the phone from her tightly clenched hand.

"Who the hell is this?" he snarled into the receiver.

"Put Jack on the phone or I'll kill him right now." A mans' voice said coldly.

Dean swallowed and glanced at Jack. She came back to herself and snatched the phone back from Dean.

"He's a fucking child!" She screamed into the mouth piece.

"Now, now. Don't lose your temper." He hissed with marked amusement.

"He's a kid, you let him go or I swear to God-"

"You'll kill me. Doesn't matter, more like me will come and use everyone you love against you. My father will have his way, no matter what you do. Maybe you should think about that before you get close to someone." He replied with a laugh.

"You son of a bitch." Jack said through gritted teeth. She asked the question she already knew the answer to. "What do you want?"

"Don't play stupid." He scoffed in genuine disgust.

Jack took a calming breath and shit her eyes. It didn't work. The temperature rose, the beer and water started to sizzle and boil. The smell of wood burning where Jack's hand held onto the bar top filled the room. She scorched the very ground she walked on thinking about Tommy. Sweet, young, smart ass Tommy, who wanted to be like her though she couldn't for the life of her understand why.

"Come to the Road House, you have the number so-" Jack was cut off by Ellen trying to snatch the phone from her. She stepped away fast and bared her teeth at the woman.

She'd burn the place around them before she let Tommy die for the sake of these people's secrets.

"Come to the Road House. We'll do a trade." Jack said, her voice thick with rage and desperation.

"I love you hunters, always so willing to deal when the circumstances are right." He mocked on the other end.

Jack swallowed a retort if only to ensure Tommy wasn't hurt by this man.

"I'll see you in two days" He said.

"Tomorrow." Jack argued.

"No my dear, two days. Those tattoos are a problem. You can thank yourself if the boy is hurt in those two days." He hung up before she could say anything else.

Jack listened to the dial tone till it started beeping in her ear. She looked down at the phone, thinking oddly about that old saying 'Don't kill the messenger.' She yanked the cord out and smashed the phone against the wall. She gasped for breath like she'd just run a mile. Jack paced back and forth, barely noticing the others watching her lose control. She ran her hands through her hair and over her face, against and again. Trying to get her head straight before she blew something up.

Dean looked from the shattered phone to the shattered girl. His mind was already working out what had happened and what was going to happen. Someone was in trouble. Jack was going to trade herself for this person. Dean hated fucking demons. Hated them for backing people into corners and forcing t heir hands. Hated that some people thought they had to die for someone else to live.

"You really want to do that?" Dean asked cautiously taking a step towards her. Jack spun around to face him. She didn't say anything just leveled those dark, suffocating eyes on him.

Jack walked past Dean and around the counter. Ellen hastily pulled Jo out of the girl's war path and didn't say anything as Jack grabbed a bottle of tequila and ripped the top off, taking a long gulp. Dean saw the hurt that flashed in Jack's eyes before she down the drink and the burn of it after. Dean knew that look. Jack was looking at something that no one else could see.

"Jack. What's going on?" Sam asked inching closer to where she was standing. Jack shook her head, slamming her eyes shut again.

"They have this kid I know, Tommy. They're going to kill him." Jack said with her eyes closed tight. Her throat burned from the liquor, she welcomed the feeling. She needed a pain she was used to.

"Who?" Sam asked.

"The Demon. The one that killed my parents." Jack responded taking another drink.

"And our mom." Dean said. And dad and Jess, he thought, thinking about the death tally in this little game of the demon's.

"Nothing came up on Ash's-" Sam started.

"One of Daddy's little boys, following his orders." Jack told him.

"What are we going to do?" Sam asked.

"Trade off. Me for Tommy, Fair bargain, think Demon Boy is getting the shitty end of the deal though." Jack said simply.

"You can't trade yourself to the Demon!" Sam said in disbelief.

"Can and will." Jack shrugged getting better at sounding casual about this. Not great but better.

"How can you do that?" Sam demanded.  
"He's a kid, I can't just leave him hanging to save my own ass." Jack exploded.

"You're a kid too!" Dean argued.

"Since you aren't getting it let me make it simple." Jack snapped slamming the bottle down onto the bar. She held both her hands.

"Innocent fourteen year old boy, who already got the shit kicked out of him by life or me." Jack pretended to measure their two lives, the hand that was Tommy's outweighing hers by a ridiculous amount.

"Its not that simple." Sam said.

"Sure it is." Jack said. She grabbed her bottle back up and stormed out of the Road House.

Dean followed her out with Sam by his side. He didn't know what he was going to say. How did you talk someone into not dying to protect someone they cared about?

They caught up with her outside her room, coming behind her as she spoke on her cell phone, not knowing she'd been followed out.

"I'll get him back Billy, I promise. I'll get him back to you." Jack said hoarsely into the phone.

* * *

As soon as Jack stepped outside, her cell phone rang shrilly. She almost didn't answer it but saw the caller i.d. and couldn't ignore him.

"Jack, he's gone." Billy started when she answered.

"Billy." Jack got out.

"My brother is missing. I went to wake him up fro school and he was gone. I called everyone we know and looked all over town. I think it was them again"

"I know." Jack interrupted.

"What do you mean you know?" Billy croaked into the phone.

"I-I'm going to get him back." Jack said at a loss for how to explain to him.

"Do you know who took him? Was it-? What was it?" Billy asked, in tears. He sounded so frightened for his little brother.

"I'll get him back Billy, I promise." Jack said with deadly resolve. "I'll get him back to you."

Billy was quiet for a long time and Jack thought maybe he'd hung up.

"Thank you Jack. Thank you." Billy said, his voice cracking. Jack felt a wave of overwhelming guilt. It was her fault his little brother was in the hands of monsters and he was thanking her. What could she say to that?

"He'll be home in two days. Tell him he'll understand someday. He'll know what I mean." Jack hung up and her shoulders sagged.

In two she was going to die. In two days a young boy was going to live. Fair trade.

**TBC…..**

**AN: Still writing from the road. Road trips only good in theory, btw. Last line so snagged from Sin City: The Yellow Bastard. **

**AN2: Was going to put A Hunters Thanksgiving tonight but now that I'm finally home. I'm too tired. Turkey Day fic on Turkey Day itself. ::Kisses::**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONON. No Ownership.**

Dean pulled Sam away, jerking his chin back towards the front of the Road House. Sam looked like he was going to argue but Dean shook his head sharply and walked off, leaving a silent command for Sam to follow. Once they made it out of ear shot Sam spoke.

"Dean, we were going to talk to her. We can't let her do this." Sam insisted.

"Tomorrow." Dean said simply and walked back into t he bar.

"What the hell do you mean tomorrow?" Sam demanded following him inside.

"I mean, we talk to her tomorrow, after she's calmed down some." Dean said sitting down at the bar.

"Beer." He said to Ellen, who nodded once.

"What's the plan now" Jo asked sitting down next to Dean.

"You and your mom should leave town, get someplace safe till this all blows over." Dean said taking a swig from the beer that Ellen set in front of him.

"No! This is our home." Jo burst out.

"Jo calm down." Ellen said studying Dean.

"But mom-"

"Jo, calm down." Ellen repeated, brooking no arguments from her daughter.

"Its a fair bet this place isn't safe anymore, they called here looking for Jack." Ellen pointed out. "If they know about this place, what makes you think its safe anywhere?" Ellen asked.

"I don't know." But you guys can hide somewhere till the deal goes down." Dean said.

"You're going to let it happen?" Jo demanded.

"Not exactly my choice is it?" Dean snapped, addressing both her and Sam who had the same question roiling under the surface of his mind.

"I'm not her family, don't even know the girl. What the hell makes you think I can talk her out of something she's set her mind to?" Dean asked.

"Dad wouldn't just give up, Dean, an neither would you." Sam said incredulously.

"You have any ideas, Sammy? Cause I sure as hell don't." Dean said standing up getting in Sam's face, just begging for a fight.

"Save one kid and let another get snatched, then?" Sam asked darkly.

"She's not a kid. This is a dirty job, Sammy." Dean said making it sound like some blasé fact of life Sam should know already.

"I'm not gonna give up." Sam said narrowing his eyes at his brother. He turned his back on Dean and stomped to the back room Ash called home. Sam pounded on the door with the side of his fist till Ash answered the door, using it to obscure himself.

"What man? I was having t his kick ass dream-"

"I need you to check the omens." Sam interrupted.

"There were these blonde twins, or maybe it was just one girl, I think I w as drunk-"

"Ash!" Sam snorted impatiently.

"Oh, right, sorry man." Ash closed the door briefly and when he opened it again, fully clothed, he gestured for Sam to enter.

"Can you see if anything's popping up now, even something small. I don't know if we can use those to track the demon's kids but I want to try." Sam said sitting down on a chair.

"You wanna see if you can find the demon and the kid before the trade thing goes down." Ash stated as he pulled his computer from the bit of wood and nails that passed for a desk onto the bed next to him.

"Yeah." Sam said leaning his elbows on his knees. His leg shook restlessly while Ash tapped away on his laptop.

"Hmmm."

"Hmmm? What does hmmm mean?" Sam asked sitting up a little.

"Nothing's about, according to my machine." Ash said turning the screen to face Sam.

"Could it be wrong?" Sam asked. Ash gave him a look and Sam closed his e yes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, sorry." Sam apologized. He stood up, pausing for a second.

"Sam." Ash said as Sam put his hand on the knob to leave the room.

"Yeah?" Sam turned back to him.

"I'll keep looking for ya, man." Ash said patting his laptop.

"Thanks." Sam said with a small smile that didn't meet his eyes.

* * *

Jack lay back in her borrowed bed, staring at the cracks in the ceiling. Despair battled with anger in her chest. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fucking fair.

She'd had the shit kicked out of her almost from her first breath as a baby. She'd lost everything and everyone, been burdened with an ability that was turning out to be useless in her time of need and now she was going to loose her life as she knew it too. It was a hard life, a constant fight, but it was hers.

This was the part in movies when the heroine thought of some great plan to save herself and everyone else. This was the part in the books where the hero showed himself with a grin and an answer. None of that was happening though. In Jack's world, in the world of hunters and monsters, the heroine doubled as a prostitute when things got tough and she was left to fend for herself, the hero was too knee deep in grief to have any answers and the only way to save the day was by selling a bit of your soul

No, Jack thought, the only way to save the day was to give up fighting.

The demon was going to take her, make her one of its puppets, use her power to kill and destroy, forcing her to go along with it.

* * *

Dean drank till he could barely stand without wobbling, pushing Jo and Ellen away when they tried to help him walk back to his and Sam's room. Sam glanced up at Dean when he stumbled into the room. He made a move to get up but Dean gave a curt head shake and Sam sat back down on his bed, glaring at the book he'd been reading.

While Sam fumed about Dean's behavior Dean locked himself in the small bathroom and stripped down. He felt filthy all over and not only from the day's heat.

His mind wandered to the hospital, try as he might, Dean could not remember what went down when the reaper was on his tail. Couldn't even remember the sonuvabitch, he only knew what Sam told him about there little chat fest, which, yeah the whole spirit board thing? Never gonna let his brother live that one down. Nothing about his father's death felt right. Dean had felt it from the second John refused to loose his temper when Sam was baiting him. Dean didn't care about near death experiences making other people appreciate life, John was not the kind of man that let a little thing like an eighteen wheeler nearly demolishing his family stop him from a good fight.

No, everything had gone downhill from there. He wanted to curse his father. How was this supposed to make things better. Didn't he think about how it would affect Dean, knowing he'd basically killed his father.

Dean punched the dingy tiles of the shower, pain vibrating up his hand on through his arm. He hit it again, from an inch away and a piece of porcelain chipped and cut into his third knuckle. Barely a scratch but it turned the water on his hand pink with the light trickle of blood.

Shutting off the water Dean reached for a towel and hastily dried off. He was suddenly exhausted. They had forty eight hours.

* * *

Forty eight hours, Sam thought knocking on Ash's door again minutes after Dean had stumbled into the room smelling like alcohol, staring Sam down for no damn good reason. Dean was a powder keg. It was starting to scare Sam.

Ash answered and gave Sam a regretful head shake. No new signs. Fuck. Sam felt useless, walking out of the bar. He's tried Dean's keeping busy approach to his grief, he'd tried talking about with Dean, he'd tried mulling over their father's demise by himself.

It wasn't getting any better. After Jess, Sam had a goal, a tangible goal he could wrap his head around to get him through the worst of the grief. Now he just felt lost. Dean was right, no Colt, no blips on the radar and now that they had a solid lead they were stone walled.

One thing was clear. The demon wanted that girl. Badly enough that it was offering trades and ultimatums instead of just tearing apart the Road House and taking her.

"You're thinking too loud."

Sam turned to see Jack leaning against the side of her motorcycle, stroking the handlebars. Her profile was half shadows, the moon barely giving enough light to define her face.

"You a telepath?" Sam asked approaching her.

"No." Jack answered.

Sam nodded and the conversation lapsed.

"Are you really okay with this? Whatever it is that's going to happen?" Sam asked her leaning against her bike tentatively then relaxing more when she didn't tell him to get off.

"No." Jack said tracing the worn leather stitching on the seat of her bike.

"Then let us help you." Sam said.

"I don't want to do work for t hem and I don't want to die. Believe me, if I can, I'm going down swingin." Jack said.

"But?" Sam asked hearing it echo off her words.

"But, Tommy has a fighting chance at a regular life, something good. He's a good kid." Jack shrugged.

"Does it have to be one or the other?" Sam asked.

"Sometimes." Jack said. She looked up into his eyes.

"Bad things are happening Sam." Jack said seriously with a hint of sadness to her voice.

"I know." Sam replied.

"Do you?" Jack said. She moved to stand in front of him.

"When this goes down," She started, " Tommy won't understand. Won't want to. Make sure he's alright. Make sure he knows its not his fault." She requested, her voice getting thick with emotion.

"I'll make sure he knows. But you know, we're still looking for options. Not gonna just let them get away with this." Sam insisted.

"I'm going to bed, Boy Scout." Jack said lightly. She smirked at Sam, going from all choked up to totally cool like breathing. Sam wanted to know how they did that.

"G'night." Sam called as she walked away.

Jack waved a goodnight to him and went to her room. Suddenly she was very tired.

**TBC……..**

**AN: Okay, be honest with me. Was the conversation between Jack and Sam too sappy? Darker stuff coming, including the trade and the meaning of Sam's vision.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for Jack.**

Sam woke up to find himself alone, the other twin size bed empty. He stretched wearily, wishing he could go back to sleep for awhile. Then he heard a loud, reverberating thud. He jumped out of his bed, grabbing the knife from his night stand and flung open the door.

Outside it Jack was picking herself up form the ground, dusting her ass off glaring daggers at Dean. His brother gave her a blank stare and attacked while she was barely off the ground. It wasn't like sparring it was more like a brawl, the two fighters trying as hard as they could to hurt each other. Sam was disturbed watching them.

Dean didn't hold anything back, knocking Jack to the ground. Judging from the blood running from his chine, she'd been workin Dean just as hard. Sam was about to stop t hem when Dean geared up to bring his sneaker clad foot down on the girl's back, back she rolled over and out of the way. A split second later she clipped the back of Dean's knee, forcing him down to her level. An arm came around Dean's neck and, grunting and swearing Jack managed a choke hold on the elder Winchester. Dean elbowed her but she held on, a snarl escaping her lips.

"Fuck." Sam watched wide eyed as Dean gabbed the back of Jack's head and threw her over his shoulder and onto the dirty ground.

"What the hell is goin on back here?" Ellen ran out of the Road House.

"Sam?" She turned to him.

"I came out here and t hey were fighting like this." Sam stated holding his hands up.

"Aren't you gonna stop them?" Ellen demanded.

"Do you wanna get in the middle of that?" Sam asked gesturing at the two hunters, thrashing and rolling over one another on the ground.

Dean didn't see Jack as he pinned her arms above her head and planted a knee in her midsection. He saw his father, he saw the funeral pyre that he'd lit himself, he saw the look in Sam's eyes every time Dean shut him out. He saw a lifetime of loss and anger, took it out on the woman beneath him. It seared beneath his skin, fire in his veins, like hard, painful fucking.

Jack didn't see Dean when she gasped for air and brought her mouth up to catch on his cheek, sinking them deep into the stubbly skin of his face. She tasted blood, seeing red. Every fight every struggle coming down to a devil's deal and the decision she was going to make to protect others. She saw a life where she never rested and never felt safe.

Jack rolled her hips up, grinding into Dean's pelvis. His grip loosened in surprise and every other dark emotion she'd evoked and Jack pushed with both hands to knick him to the side, quickly taking the upper hand. One knee went to his throat, cutting his air off just enough. Dean grabbed her hips, not daring to move with the dangerous look Jack had in her eyes. He glared up defiantly, gripping her waist hard enough to bruise. He felt like hell and she looked it.

It was the most alive he'd felt in weeks.

At some point something had changed and now Sam felt like looking away, his face heating up. He saw Ellen's eyebrows shoot up and she shook her head, retreating back through the back door to the bar.

Sam looked back at the human pile in the dirt, The two were caught in a stare down and didn't seem to notice he was even there. Sam cleared his throat.

"Dean? Jack?" He ventured a step closer to the two, slowly.

"Dean!" He said a little louder stepping back just in case. Dean's eyes flickered to Sam and back to Jack. Something dissipated, that something that Sam couldn't decipher and was a little jealous that this woman could. Jack's knee relaxed enough for Dean to suck in a deep breath.

"Oh you got a killin rage in you girl," Dean said in a gravel rough voice, not making a move to get Jack off of him.

Jack's lips twitched upward and she levered herself off of him. She offered a hand that Dean ignored, taking Sam's hand instead to pull himself up off the ground. Dean dusted himself off, spitting saliva and blood on the ground. He jerked his chin at Jack, nodded in respect. She gave a curt understanding nod in return.

That was how Sam started the day.

**AN: Short in-between chapter, before what happens next. Wanted to add some sexual tension and a sort of understanding between Jack and Dean.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer Nope, now ownership. Not now, not ever.**

The day passed in a blur of movement and sound that Jack barely felt or heard. She spent hours on the phone with Billie, spouting platitudes about everything being fine and that Tommy was coming home soon, safe and sound. She watched Ash work on his computer, the clicks and taps lulling her into a space between sleep and awareness.

Sometime later she let Sam patch her up, just because. If she closed her eyes she could almost believe that it was her uncle's familiar hand taping a bandage to her face. Inevitably she'd open her eyes though.

Sam stood back to look over his handy work, a heavy feeling spreading through his chest. He had to look away. Hopelessness pervaded his senses. Everything was moving too fast, before that morning he'd had some sort of hope of changing what he saw in his vision. Now, looking at her and Dean, he cursed his visions again.

"Its not that bad Sam. We just got a little out of hand." Jack said to reassure him.

Sam blinked and shook his head. He didn't want to be the one to say it. He hated that this responsibility had been dropped on him.

"Sam, what's wrong?" Dean said getting up from his seat at the bar to stand in front of his brother.

"Nothing." Sam said clearing his throat. He stood up quickly, closing the lid on Ellen's first aid kit.

"Sam, c'mon man." Dean said following him.

"I'm fine." Sam said avoiding his brother's gaze. Sam handed the kit over the bar to Ellen, "Thanks." He told her.

"Sam what's on your mind?" She said placing a hand over his as she reached for the kit. Sam looked down at the hand.

"Remember what I said about my vision?" Sam said without looking up. "That you looked beat to hell?"

"Yeah." Jack said.

Sam didn't need to say anything else. He could tell it had hit home. This was apart of his premonition coming true.

Jack drew in a shaky breath. "That sucks." She said.

"We need to start planning." Ellen said.

"Yeah, you need to get somewhere far away from here," Jack said quietly, nodding her head.

"You can take my weapons if you need them and there's a book of-"

"That's not what I mean." Ellen said cutting her off. "Jo, honey get on the horn, only the people we absolutely know we can trust."

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, looking between her and Jo.

"Calling in back up." Ellen said. "Sam, go wake up Ash, tell him to get on the computer and check the signs again."

"You can't do this." Jack said standing up.

"Yes I can." Ellen said sternly.

"He'll kill Tommy." Jack said raising her voice.

"Listen girl," Ellen said walking around the side of the bar to stand in front of Jack with her hands on her hips. "I know that what's happening is hard, but you're going to get our help whether you want it or not."

"And you won't take that tone of voice with me in my home again." She said.

Jack frowned, frustrated. She had respect for Ellen, a lot of it in fact. She was something like Jack had hoped to be if she ever got older. But this was a loosing battle and Jack didn't want to risk a kid, any kid, getting hurt because of her.

"We can help." Jo said as she dialed the newly replaced phone.

"I know you want to but I can't risk it, I won't." Jack said in a resigned voice.

"Do you know what will happen when they have you?" Dean demanded harshly. "The Demon will hurt people with your power, he'll kill again and again. Getting whatever it is that he wants for the kids like you and Sam."

"I know." Jack said.

"This boy might mean a lot to you but if its one kid or who knows how many other people…" Dean trailed off begging for some kind of sign that she understood.

"Neither is going to happen." Jack assured them.

"Hello, Bobby, its Jo Harvelle…" Jo said into the mouthpiece. Jack felt that old sense of having no control over the situation creeping up on her.

"I have an idea. Nobody else has to die." Jack said appealing to Ellen and Dean. Sam returned with Ash in tow, already tapping away on his homemade laptop.

"What's your plan?" Ellen asked, softening her tone when she realized that Jack was starting to panic.

Jack rubbed her forehead. For days her head ache had been building. A clear sign that she was using her ability too much lately.

"I got something." Ash announced.

All heads turned to look at him. He was watching the screen completely engrossed in his work.

"Its not the big bad, that would be all the signs. But there's been an electrical storm about ten miles from here though. Pretty bad." Ash told them without glancing up.

"Its coming." Sam said clenching his jaw so tight his teeth hurt.

"What's this plan, Jackie?" Dean said turning on her. Jack was watching the screen, a tremble of fear clenching in her chest.

"Jack." Ellen placed a hand on her shoulder and Jack flinched.

"Its okay, just me." Ellen said calmly.

"When he comes we do the trade," Jack spoke mechanically. "He'll want to do it at the same time."

"You said no one was going to die." Dean said.

"After Tommy's clear-" Jack gulped. She turned away clamping down on the fine tremble that had started up.

"When Tommy is clear, I want you to kill me, Dean." Jack said looking over her shoulder into Dean's eyes.

"What?" Sam asked in shock.

"If I'm dead, he can't use me to hurt anyone else." Jack reasoned. "When I'm walking towards it,"

Sam could see it playing out before his eyes, like he was watching a movie. Jack walking with her hands up to show they were empty, the boy making his way slowly across the space at the same time, stumbling, each step marked by fear and uncertainty.

"I want you to grab him Sam, as fast as you can and cover his eyes, he doesn't need to see this."

Dean aimed a gun he'd had hidden under his jacket and…..

"You want my brother to kill you?!" Sam crossed the room fast and grabbed Jack hard by the shoulders.

"How the hell can you ask him to do that?" Sam yelled in her face.

"Sam stop." Ellen tried to loosen his vice like grip on Jack's arms.

"He's close to gone and you're going to ask him to murder someone." Sam let go, pushing her away from him.

"I don't know what else to do!" Jack screamed back.  
"They have to leave, or they'll-

"We're already wrapped up in this." Ellen cut Jack off again. She looked between Jack and Sam, glaring. "Every hunter is. You don't get to choose your ranks in a war, just your side."

"I'll do it." Dean said out of nowhere. Even Ash looked up from what he was doing, Jo dropped the phone, Bobby's voice on the other end, calling her name.

"What the hell did you just say?" Sam looked incredulously at his brother.

"I said I'll do it." Dean said.

"You can't!" Sam protested.

"Sam, we only know two ways to kill this thing." Dean said harshly, "One of them is out you know why and this thing isn't going to fall for walking into a Devil's Trap, not again."

"It doesn't have to be this way." Ash chimed in. "I can work through the night, be ready for that fugly bastard when he comes."

"You should but just in case, we need to know what to do." Dean said nodding in agreement with Ash.

"Dean." Sam said quietly staring at Sam like he was looking at a stranger.

"If its between one person and hundreds of people." Jack quoted Dean back.

"I hate you for this." Sam told her with tears in his eyes. If this happened, Sam as going to lose Dean, to the guilt that would eat at him for this, to the grief that already threatened to consume him.

"I hate me too." Jack told him.

"Thank you." She said walking up to stand in front of Dean. She looked down at his hands.

Dean felt disgust roil around in his stomach. Just when he thought things were as bad as they could get, something worse came along to bury them. He couldn't stand to hear Jack, a fucking kid, thanking him for agreeing to be her executioner. Dean breathed deep, shaking his head. He had to get out of the room before everything that was building inside came screaming out.

Dean pushed past Jack, his brother and Ellen to get out the door. He heard Sam running after him, calling his name as he ran to the car and flung the door open. It was on loan from Ellen for the time being but it would get where he needed to go; as far from the RoadHouse as possible.

"Dean, it doesn't have to go down like this." Sam said reaching for the passenger side door handle only to find it locked. He tried to the other doors as Dean jammed the keys in the ignition. Dean was too fast fro him though, locking each of the manual locks before Sam could get inside.

"Dean! Open the door!" Sam started to pound on the driver's side window.

Dean didn't say anything, just jammed a tape in and turned the volume up so loud it hurt Sam's ears from outside the car. Sam had to jump away from the car when Dean threw the car into gear, backing up.

Ellen's truck roared away into the sunset, kicking up a cloud of dust in its wake.

"Sam." Jo called from the doorway.

Sam turned without seeing her and walked back into the bar. Jack was nowhere to be found.

* * *

"Its not right to ask this of that boy." Ellen told Jack, quietly standing in the doorway to the room she loaned Jack.

"I know." Jack responded sitting on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands.

"You'd really do it wouldn't you? Die to protect all those people." Ellen said placidly, a note of respect in her tone.

"I don't want to die." Jack said, she sucked in a deep breath. "Does it count as brave if I just want to run from all this?"

Jack wanted this woman's counsel, needed it. Dean was torn up badly inside, it was plain as day in everything he did. Sam was too, too something she couldn't place, to give up and see things the way she did. Stubborn, maybe. Yeah that was the word. Stubborn in his belief he could save her if he tried. Ellen had been around, seen things. Jack wanted to hear what she had to say.

"I know what it is to feel like everything is lost, Jack. I lost my husband, Jo's daddy, to the hunt." Ellen told her walking into the room.

"Its brave that you want to stay but you're foolish if you think it'll be over and done with a gun shot. This thing won't give up cause you're dead." Ellen said.

"I know, but I can't let it have-"

"It already has power like yours, if what John said was right." Ellen told her. Jack cringed. Another strike against this 'gift'. It was so close to the Demon's own power.

"What are you punishing yourself for?" Ellen tipped her chin up to look her in the face. Ellen watched her with deep concern, patience that couldn't be faked. Jack never knew if her mother watched her like that as a baby when she was sick or crying for no reason other than an infants prerogative to cry.

"Jo's really lucky, you know. Having a mom like you." Jack said.

"I think she'd argue that." Ellen said with a half smile. She turned serious. "Ash is checking for leads, seeing if there isn't a way to get at this thing. We still got till tomorrow night. And Jo is calling everyone trustworthy.

"I don't know many that would fit that bill." Jack told Ellen.

"Well, that's why you have to stick around, meet the rest of the family." Ellen sat down next to her, putting an un-invasive arm around Jack's shoulders, sticking it out when Jack stiffened at the contact and eventually relaxed into it with the awkwardness of a child that had never been shown the softer things in life.

**TBC……**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own Jack. I think you know the rest already. Damn disclaimers.**

Dean wandered back into the room he and Sam shared hours later, as the sun was just beginning to rise. Sam laid perfectly still when he heard Dean slip back inside. Wherever he'd been, he hadn't been drinking, which was a relief to Sam.

"Go back to sleep Sam." Dean sighed falling into his bed.

"G'night Dean." Sam clenched his teeth to keep from saying something in anger. Where had Dean gone? Didn't he know how worried Sam had been? Why the hell would he agree to do something that would kill whatever thin thread of sanity Dean was obviously clinging to?

Instead he closed his eyes so tight they hurt and thought, determinedly about strategy. Tomorrow was the deadline, he had to think up something before that happened. It wasn't impossible. Sam had put together plans, patterns, all manner of tracking the big evil in much less time. Now it was just a little more important, more lives to save, including a gung-ho, borderline suicidal huntress and an innocent kid. And most importantly Dean.

Sam had a head start though, because he knew exactly what was going through Jack's mind. Not ling ago he'd been ready and willing to die for the mission. If there was a shred of doubt about her plan, he'd find it and use it.

No one at Harvelle's Road House slept that night.

Except Ash. He passed out over his computer on the bar top.

* * *

Bobby arrived at five in the morning, affording Dean two hours of sleep before being roused by Sam to start planning what was going to go down when night fell and the trade happened. He knocked hard on Jack's door on their way to the bar, where as few lights as possible were on. To Dean and Sam's surprise Bobby was not the only hunter that had answered the call for back up. Far from it. Joshua and a man Dean didn't recognize stood at the bar, talking heatedly. Father Mason, who they boys had known almost as long as they'd known Pastor Jim, was paging through one of Bobby's demonology texts.

"Cavalry is here." Ellen said with a lopsided smile.

"I see that." Sam said. The door behind him opened and Jack stumbled in.

Dean might not have spent the entire night drinking, but Jack sure had. She smelled like Tequila and vodka, her eyes were glazed over and she was holding t he door jamb for support.

"There are people here." She lifted the half empty bottle of Grey Goose and downed a mouthful before Sam pulled it away from her.

"Hey!" She protested flimsily.

"You're drunk." Sam admonished.

"You're dumb." Jack retorted, slurring her words. She was smart enough even in her drunken state, not to let go of the doorjamb.

"Coffee." Dean said to Ellen, who nodded, with a look of annoyance pointed at Jack.

"You don't seem like the type to get shit faced in front of a bunch of strangers." Dean said putting an arm under Jack's shoulder, which she grudgingly accepted.

"M'Not." Jack said, forcing her feet to move. She let herself be lowered into a nearby chair.

"You guys, could you give us a sec?" Sam asked.

"I could use a good game of pool." The stranger nudged Bobby. He looked to be around Bobby's age, grey hair threading through black.

"Joey. You came I didn't know ya cared so much." Jack drawled, tipping her head to the side.

"Sober up Jack." The man called Joey said following Bobby to the Pool table. The other men made themselves scarce in plain sight as only a hunter can.

"What are you doing Jack?" Sam demanded in a low voice, sitting in the chair next to her.

Jack shrugged and folded her arms on the table, laying her head down. "I'd rather be drunk when I die, it'll take the edge off."

"Nobody but that demon dies, you got me." Sam said with enough force that even Dean looked up at him in surprise.

"Here," Ellen put a cup of coffee in front of Jack. She looked like she was about to open her mouth and say something to an unresponsive Jack but Dean quickly pulled her aside, leaving Sam to force feed her the coffee.

"She's having a hard time, we'll take care if it." Dean told Ellen in a stern, low voice.

"Like you promised to take care of things tomorrow?" Ellen asked jerking her arm free from Dean's grasp, folding her arms over her chest.

"I'll take care of it." Dean said again, sounding hollow.

Sam crossed the room quickly, looking worriedly at his brother, "She passed out." He told them.

"Good, that might make this easier." Dean said nodding once. Sam bit his lip, nodding in reluctant agreement. Dean looked to the pool table, where Bobby and Joey were playing quietly, looking more like they were playing a game for someone's life than a game of pool. The other hunters watched with little actual interest.

"Lets introduce ourselves, Sammy." Dean smirked and led the way to the 'cavalry'.

"Dean, Sam this is Joseph Black. Joe these are John Winchester's boys." Ellen introduced them to the stranger.

"Your reputations precede you." Joseph drawled putting aside his cue to shake each of their hands.

"Thanks." Dean said uncertainly. The idea that stories about his family had been circulating, apparently for a long time, irked him still.

"Pleased to meet you." Sam said politely.

"What's your interest in this?" Dean asked the man.

"Dean!" Sam hissed sharply.

"Its okay." Joseph said raising a scarred hand.

"I've known Jack for a long time, her uncle used to work odd jobs for me before he was killed." Joseph said bowing his head slightly out of respect for the dead. "The girl's a pistol, but she's good people. Doesn't deserve this lot."

"Can't think of many who would." Bobby said shaking his head, wearily.

"Father Mason, with all due respect, what are you doing here?" Sam asked the older man.

"Rumblings started awhile back, something big is coming and I intend to be part of it." Father Mason said, twisting an end of his grey and brown specked beard.

"Not gonna ask why I'm here? I feel left out." Bobby said with a smartass smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Nope, we know you're just a crazy bastard up for a fight." Dean said with feigned levity.

"Alright lets get down to business, shall we?" Ellen said. "Jo, honey, get us a bottle of whiskey and put on another pot of coffee. I have a feeling its going to be a long night." Ellen said. Her daughter, her only child, Ellen thought with a tightness in her chest, smiled and nodded, eager to be part of this fight in any way she could.

Ellen wanted badly for her to be somewhere safe, but safe havens were becoming few in far between in these dark times and the only way she was going to be able to keep form driving herself crazy with worry over Jo was to have her near when this trade went down.

"Thanks for coming tonight, we really appreciate it," Dean started, all but calling the makeshift meeting into attention. He had the air of authority to do it too, Ellen thought, watching him leaning forward against the table, with his fists clenched. Just like his father.

**TBC……**

**AN: Next chapter will be the last and then(finally) I can start work on other things. Till then, please review, it makes work a little less annoying.**


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